Monday, June 28, 2010

After much prodding to read this book by a close friend, I thought I'd give it a try. And I'd say it was worth it.

For the life of me, I could not think of how to sum this book up in my own words. It was too different, much too like something I have never encountered before. Therefore, I cannot put into words what it is all about, so I'll let Goodreads handle that this time around.

"New to town, Beatrice is expecting her new best friend to be one of the girls she meets on the first day. But instead, the alphabet conspires to seat her next to Jonah, aka Ghost Boy, a quiet loner who hasn't made a new friend since third grade. Something about him, though, gets to Bea, and soon they form an unexpected friendship. It's not romance, exactly - but it's definitely love. Still, Bea can't quite dispel Jonah's gloom and doom - and as she finds out his family history, she understands why. Can Bea help Jonah? Or is he destined to vanish?"

In the first few chapters, my immediate reaction was that the dialogue seemed a little fishy. Especially between Bea and her mom, I was just left wondering if people actually spoke this way. Her mom seemed childish and annoying, sometimes odd; something very uncommon. Unrealistic. Questionable. Irrational.

Some of the characters, again parents, didn't seem fully developed, which made me wonder what kind of relationship the author had with her own.

But once I actually got into this, I was swept away and living in my own little world with Bea and Jonah. Definitely not the conventional love story, this novel with make your heart ache until the very last word. In fact, the ending gave me a feeling that was both unsettling and satisfied. That doesn't happen often.

I loved Jonah. He seemed pretty rounded, especially towards the middle of the book (not so much in the beginning). The descriptions of this boy made me feel as though I could go to school this fall and see him sitting next to me. His family issues and inability to wholly get over some things made him seem even more so.

Although there did seem to be some missing pieces, I got over that quickly. It's hard for me to even wrap my mind around the relationship between Jonah and Bea. I was left questioning why these people did what they did and said what they said.

It's new and fresh, something that doesn't come along all too often.

The plot itself is new. It's not so much one big event as it is a story of life in general. And I think that's what I liked most about it, and why I couldn't sum it up in my own words. It's life for one person in one time, and a significant even that changed her from then on.

Although I'm still not 100% sure how you actually say goodbye in robot, pick this one up for yourself and let me know your thoughts on how to say goodbye.

In My Mailbox is hosted over at The Story Siren. It's a great way to see what everyone got this week!I can't remember the last time I got as many goodies as I received this week! It's been good! Most of these I bought at discounted prices or used, but I did win two, How Not to Be Popular and Ring of Five from RandomBuzzers.com!

-California Holiday By Kate Cann

-Webster's Thesaurus (But in a nice purple and green striped pattern)

-The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

-Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

-Dreamland by Sarah Dessen

-The Ring of Five(ARC) by EoinMcNamee

-How Not to be Popular by Jennifer Ziegler

-Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart

-Beijing Doll by Chun Sue

-Best Foot Forward by Joan Bauer

-Borrowed Light by AnnaFienberg

-Anatomy of a Boyfriend by Daria Snadowsky

-Boy Girl Boy by Ron Koertge

-A Necromancer (by Michael Scott) water bottle

It was a very good week, and I can't wait to delve into my ever-growing piles of books!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

So yesterday was Jason Mraz's birthday. He's the guy who wrote that "happy little hippie song," I'm Yours. His other music is great, if not better. I'm a huge fan of him, what he's doing, and his music of course. But what does this all have to do with his birthday and this blog?

One of my favorite songs of his inspired this blog. Shocker, the song is called 'Wordplay' and it comes off of his "Mr. A-Z" album. The lyrics themselves speak more to me than the actual music, but the song still makes me want to dance.

As an artist and as a person, Jason has shaped my life in many ways. So happy belated birthday to him.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

They have no actual purpose other than to look pretty. Trees give off oxygen and some even provide fruit. Other plants grow vegetables and other things to eat. Flowers hold the sole responsibility to look nice and cheer people up. It just blows my mind that the same thing a man gives a woman to woo her is the thing you give to someone who's sick, and the same thing you give to a funeral home.

I guess that's why I just love flowers on book covers. They are so versatile; they can practically mean something different for every person. One may see them as a symbol of romance, while another thinks of death.

What do the flower petals on the cover of Just Like That by Marsha Qualey make you feel?

Sunday, June 20, 2010

-An album on Facebook entitled "random"-A pizza lover-A dog-A cell phone (or so it seems!)-An item of clothing they won't admit to buying-Stupid things around their closest friends-An In My Mailbox post in honor of The Story Siren So, here it is, my first In My Mailbox post!

Endless Summer by Jennifer EcholsHow to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie StandifordGetting the Pretty Back: Friendships, Family, and Finding the Perfect Lipstick by Molly RingwaldThe Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Good news! Well, not even good news, great news! The great book series, starting with WAKE, (by Lisa McMann) are being turned into a movie! It's official, Paramount Pictures and MTV films picked up the rights. Sounds like it could be great, considering the director!

The thing I'm not 100% sold on though, is that Miley Cyrus is up for the lead role of Janie. Nothing against her, she's an alright actress, but that's just not how I saw the role. And I thought Janie was supposed to be blonde. But hey, surprises happen. Because I can see how the casting directors and everyone else would pick Miley; she has a huge fan base and publicity covering her. However, I think that even without her this movie will be successful. It's a great story that would take a lot to mess up on their part. And there are some people that would stray from seeing this becauseMiley is in it. In fact, if I wasn't such a huge fan of this series, I probably wouldn't see it. Regardless of who plays Janie, I can't wait to see how this one turns out!

For any of you who haven't yet checked out this series, I highly recommend it!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

I've been a huge Sarah Dessen fan ever since I read Someone Like You, way back when. But all my feelings towards her as an author were confirmed as I read this great book.

Colie has never fit in. She was fat, but even after her mom becomes the world renownedKiki Sparks and they both shed the weight, Colie is still an outcast with a reputation she doesn't deserve. So when her mom decides to ship her out to Colby, North Carolina for the summer, Colie's mindset is no different than the one she holds for her hometown. She has no high expectations as she arrives in Colby, meets hippie Norman at the train station and comes in the the crazy world of Mira, the aunt with whom she's staying. And then she somehow finds herself with a job at the Last Chance, a small restaurant where Morgan, and even Isabel seem to take Colie in, to show her true self and potential.

I mean, this book has exactly what you need a summer novel. A model friendship, an eccentric aunt, and a nice, artistic hippie. Ms. Dessen has this great thing she always does, she pushes you directly into the book, so much that you actually start to believe that you are there with all those incredible people. I really didn't want it to end. I would have been completely content living in the little world of Colby forever. But that does bring up one thing that Sarah Dessen always seems to do: she ends her stories in a somewhat abrupt manner. I was left thinking, that's it? A nice epilogue would have been sufficient. The sudden ending aside, I loved this book. It really focuses on friendship and self image, a refreshing read that just really goes over being a girl and feeling comfortable in your own skin. Confidence starts with you.

And it was really refreshing that it didn't solely focus on boys and romance. Don't get me wrong, I love romance. It was just a nice change from the normal I-think-he-loves-me-but-maybe-not-summer-novel.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Not really sure what made me decide to do this, but this post will consist of quotes. Most of which are anonymous.

"Artists of any kind are the hostage of their own minds, and most of the time what makes their works so great is because their minds are traps for the victim. Too much thinking and imagination, and not enough acting and realization."

"Doing what you like is freedom; doing what you love is happiness."

"If love is not the answer, then I must have misunderstood the question.""Their words, like the music, had the potential to be endless." -Sarah Dessen, Keeping the Moon

"Happiness is a slurpee with a pink straw." -Jenny Han, It's Not Summer Without YouAnd my favorite:"In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through you-- how many you can make your own." -Mortimer J. Adler

Monday, June 14, 2010

Caution! May contain some spoilers if you haven't already checked out The Summer I Turned Pretty, out last summer!Seriously, if you haven't read the first, don't keep reading this! (Wow, never thought I'd be discouraging people from reading my blog!)

Summary: Belly lives for summers. She spends part of the year yearning for the season, and the other part living it up in Cousins, at the loved Susannah's beach house with the boys, Conrad and Jeremiah, as well as Belly's mother and brother. Belly pretty much always knew she'd have to end up with one of the boys, and Conrad had always been the one she loved. But after Susannah's death, Conrad seems to be on another planet, causing Belly to say some things she wishes she could take back. To everyone, there is a deep hole left that Susannah can no longer fulfill. And then Conrad leaves, runs away, something very unlike anything he'd actually do. So when Jeremiah calls up Belly after not having talked to her since his mother's death, Belly jumps at the chance to help at all. All of this leads to long car rides, beach parties, and much needed confessions, especially between Belly and Conrad. But where does that leave Jeremiah?

Okay, I must say that I was a little bit disappointed in the second installment of this trilogy. In the first novel, Jenny Han blew me away. I could relate so much to Belly. In fact, there were times in my life when I was her, maybe even still. But it seemed to me that this was just a distraction for the final book, which I have high hopes for.There was a lot more of Jeremiah in this book, something I appreciated. However, Conrad had less of a presence. And when he did show up, he was not much like I remembered, too different. I didn't really like him much here. But under the circumstance, I guess I understand. Steven was also missing, but it didn't seem to matter much. Memories were constantly being dredged up, and every single of of the summer boys, just as I had remembered from the first book, showed up there.Jenny Han did a great job of encompassing the hurt that comes with death and loss, while also touching on the other ways people deal with grief-- Conrad, pushing everyone away, Jeremiah, trying to be the same as before, and Laurel, organizing and keeping busy to keep the hurt away.

Overall, I enjoyed this read, as well as the beautiful imagery, just not as much as before. Still, there were times where I could feel exactly what was meant.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Gimme a Call by Sarah Mlynowski summary: (in my own words)Lonely and remorseful, Devi goes to the mall by herself on senior skip day, in an attempt to feel less sorry for herself. But she finds herself wishing for a chance to change the past, to get it all right-- stay away from Bryan, the boy who shattered her heart; keep in touch with friends instead of spending every waking moment with Bryan; and getting better grades to get accepted to a better school by not ditching oppurtunities to study for a moment to be with Bryan. So it all goes back to him. Until she drops her cell phone into the fountain and gets the chance to talk to her younger self and convince the younger Devi (called 'Frosh') to stay away from Bryan. But then what happens when other things change?

I actually enjoyed this book. It was a fresh concept. The plot reminded me a bit of Back to the Future, but in a good way (I'm a huge fan of those movies!). While at times things seemed to be a little redundant, I was still amused. But by the end of the book, I was thoroughly annoyed with Ivy (the older Devi) and her selfish bossiness. I felt like I could relate more to the younger her, even though I'm not quite sure why she did all the things she did. Overall, Sarah Mlynowski went about writing this in a good manner, keeping things interesting by switching point of views and changing how Ivy's life played out all the time. On a scale from one to ten, I'd give this a 5.8.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Was going to post this last night, but blogger was making things...difficult. Anyone else have trouble posting last night?

Anywho, back to the purpose of this post. It's time for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Crazy Jennifer over at crazy-for-books. It's a way to get your book blog known to others and to learn about some other great blogs along the way.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

In the past, I've written my own summaries of the books I've reviewed. However, I don't even know where to start for this one, so I've taken a summary from Borders.com:

One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens--both named Will Grayson--are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history's most fabulous high school musical.

(This is also the summary from the inside flap of the book.)

This was the first thing I've ever read by John Green or David Levithan, so I wasn't 100% sure what to expect, even though I've been following John and his brother, Hank, on their vlog for some time now.This book definitely made me want to go out and buy every other thing John Green had ever written. Same for David Levithan. I loved the clear distinction between the different voices. And sometimes that gets lost when authors co-write, but for once there was a fine line.I particularly enjoyed the character, Tiny Cooper. I just never knew what to expect from himWhile cleverness and wit clearly abound, there isn't lack of actual story as well. The not-so-complicated plot line was just what was needed.I could feel my pulse pick up when the characters were in a tense situation, and that's just what good fiction is supposed to do.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

To Kill A Mickingbird is pretty much required reading for everyone I know. However, neither of my parents had read it. So in case you wern't forced to read this one in school, then this one goes out to you.

During the Great Depression, siblings Jem and Scout have to make their way through all the frightening changes that come with growing up, standing up for truth, and getting to know the people of small town Maycomb. Scout lives for summer, when she can hang around the neigborhood with Dill (whom she will marry) and her bigger brother who's more like a friend. But a summer day comes when things seem to turn upside down, the right thing is smothered, and they have to cope with the reality of the times. And this brings on some things they would have never expected.

I didn't expect much out of this novel. From past experiences, I never enjoyed much of the things teachers forced upon me. This was an exception.

Quite an outburst in her day, Harper Lee addresses some topics that I really appreciated. Her themes set the way for other modern day writers, and left the rest of us pondering about life's values themselves.

Great writing with and interesting story line. And the whole "small town" thing didn't get old like I thought it would.